Dell will sell Linux on PCs outside of US

Dell is preparing to announce plans to sell computers with preinstalled Linux outside the US.

Jeremy Kirk, IDG News Service
July 9, 2007

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Dell is preparing to announce plans to sell computers with preinstalled Linux outside the US.

It is also preparing to offer the Ubuntu Linux distribution to small business customers, though it is not yet clear in what geographies it will be available.

More details will be revealed shortly, wrote Lionel Menchaca, digital media manager for Dell on a company blog on last week.

"I wanted to be clear that Dell does have plans to offer Linux to more consumers in additional locations outside the United States," Menchaca wrote.

Dell is also encouraging more members of its Linux engineering team to post technical updates about specific distributions and open-source projects, he added.

Dell began selling two desktop PCs and a laptop with the Ubuntu 7.04 Linux distribution preinstalled in the US in May, a move the company said was in response to consumer demand.

Although Linux's success has been squarely in the server market, consumers are showing increased interest in the open-source operating system as a desktop OS alternative to Microsoft's Windows. Desktop Linux has tended to have more appeal among developers and computer enthusiasts.

Dell already offers other Linux distributions from market leaders Red Hat and Novell on some of its servers and its Precision workstation line.